McKinney Chiropractor;
Strengthen Your Feet
Video by Dr. Bryan Stephens
These feet were made for moving
Our feet play an important part in the health of our neck and back. Think about it. Our feet are the base of our entire body for standing, walking, running, jumping, etc. If our feet don’t move the way they should, it can cause problems throughout our entire body because of the compensations that develop. That movement connection of one part of our body to another is called the kinetic chain.
All too often I see patients come in with neck and upper back problems that stem from their foot and ankle. It sounds weird but stick with me. If the foot isn’t working properly, it affects how the knee is bending when we walk. If the knee is overcompensating and causing us to walk differently, it affects our hip. If our hip is taking on more stress, it can cause our pelvis to rotate. That rotation in our pelvis affects our sacrum, which is the base of our spine. Now our spine is having to compensate for the rotation which can go all the way to the neck and upper back. This is why we make sure to look at the body as a whole instead of just focusing on only one part in pain.
There are some easy ways to make sure our feet are taken care of. First is pretty easy. Get out and walk. Walking will help keep the muscles active in the foot and make sure that we are not developing soft tissue adhesions from lack of use. Second, start rolling. Rolling a lacrosse ball across the bottom of the foot can help break up any of the adhesions that have begun forming. It is a great trick I use with my patients that have plantar fasciitis. Walking and rolling are a great start to making sure the feet stay flexible while keeping strong and stable. When that isn’t enough, I run through an exercise of picking up my pinky toe while keeping my big toe on the ground. By doing this, the arch builds strength as well as the outside of the ankle which often gets stretched but not strengthened.
Besides the other health benefits of walking I’ve mentioned in the past, it keeps your feet strong too. One more reason to get out and keep moving.
Our Message
Our Chiropractors, in McKinney, located near the corner of Eldorado Pkwy. and Ridge Rd. are here to help educate our patients on how to live a healthier lifestyle by teaching our patients the link between how you eat and how your choices can effect your health. We are committed to relieving back pain, neck pain and headaches with chiropractic adjustments and exercises like the one in this video to Strengthen Your Feet to avoid Back Pain.